“These are the images that Jorge Ramos showed to Nicolás Maduro and provoked him to get up from the interview,” Ramos’ peer Enrique Acevedo tweeted in Spanish. “This is what Maduro doesn’t want the world to see.”

Ramos says he had been questioning Maduro for roughly 17 minutes about the current state of affairs in the country where hyperinflation and failed socialist policies have driven its people to starvation.

“He didn’t like the things we were asking him about the lack of democracy in Venezuela, about torture, political prisoners, the humanitarian crisis that they were living,” Ramos later told Univision after being released.

Ramos says he next presented Maduro the startling footage, at which point a man walked in and stopped the interview.

“Immediately after, one of his ministers, Jorge Rodríguez, came to tell us that the interview was not authorized,” Ramos said.

Ramos’ equipment was allegedly confiscated and his team detained and questioned for over two hours.

A Mexican government official called on Venezuela to release the journalists and return their equipment, saying, “Our country calls for respect for freedom of expression.”

White House Assistant Secretary Kimberly Breier also condemned Maduro’s actions and called for the Univision team to be released.

.@StateDept has received word the journalist @jorgeramosnews and his team are being held against their will at Miraflores Palace by Nicolas Maduro. We insist on their immediate release; the world is watching. #Venezuela

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